What Grows in Agnew, Nebraska

USDA Zones 5b · 120 acres

Agnew, Nebraska, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Agnew, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Agnew lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.

We read public map data around Agnew — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Agnew — the short answer

Agnew, Nebraska: USDA zone 5b, about 194 days between hard freezes, across 120 acres of town.

USDA zone
5b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 9
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 20
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~194
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
120 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

5b5b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 5b is Agnew's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Agnew's 194-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Agnew

Each reading below is measured for Agnew itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Agnew runs about 194 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.

There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.

Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Agnew sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Agnew is in

Agnew sits in the Western Corn Belt Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Agnew's own centroid rather than borrowed from Lancaster County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Agnew

Every plant below cleared Agnew's own zone 5b and its 194-day season. Each card opens that plant's Nebraska profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in NebraskaZones 2–11Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Nebraska cranberry guideZones 2–7Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in NebraskaZones 5–8Agnew's 5b is its exact cold limit.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Nebraska growing notesZones 2–11Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in NebraskaZones 4–9Agnew's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
St. Johns wort, photograph
Nebraska st. johns wort guideZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in NebraskaZones 2–10Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Nebraska growing notesZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in NebraskaAgnew's 194 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Nebraska kale guideZones 2–11Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Blackberry in NebraskaZones 5–8Agnew's 5b is its exact cold limit.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Nebraska growing notesZones 2–11Agnew's 194 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in NebraskaZones 2–12Agnew's 194 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Nebraska potato guideZones 2–11Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in NebraskaZones 3–11Agnew's 194 days clear the ~40 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Nebraska growing notesZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in NebraskaZones 2–11Agnew's 194 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Nebraska azalea guideZones 4–8Agnew's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in NebraskaZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Nebraska growing notesZones 3–10Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in NebraskaAgnew's 194 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Nebraska lilac guideZones 4–10Agnew's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in NebraskaZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Canada anemone, photograph
Canada anemone: Nebraska growing notesZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in NebraskaZones 3–9Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Nebraska alfalfa guideZones 2–10Agnew's 194 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in NebraskaZones 2–7Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Blue spruce: Nebraska growing notesZones 2–8Agnew's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
annual ryegrass, photograph
Growing annual ryegrass in NebraskaZones 3–10Agnew's 194 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Nebraska canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Agnew's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Agnew?

Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 12; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 9 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 20 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. As the window narrows, the plantings just get faster — fall brassicas, then greens, then garlic to finish.

What's on the federal record near Agnew

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Agnew. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. BRANCHED OAK MARINA INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.2 mi
  2. 12N 6E 9BD 1Nitrate · 3.4 mi
  3. 12N 5E35DA 1Nitrate · 3.5 mi
  4. 12N 5E34BD 1Nitrate · 3.6 mi
  5. RAYMOND CENTRAL PUBLIC SCHOOLSUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
  6. TONIs CORNERUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  7. RAYMOND MAINTENANCE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
  8. 11N 6E 6AB 1Nitrate · 4.3 mi
  9. RICK WILLIAMS RESIDENCEBrownfields · 4.5 mi
  10. 12N 5E 19DC (LPS-3)Nitrate · 4.7 mi
  11. TVRDYS ONE STOP INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.7 mi
  12. NELSON OIL COUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Agnew's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.

Environmental Intelligence

The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Agnew.

Total Sites

34

within ~10 miles of Agnew

Risk Level

Low

Highest-severity

1 Toxics Release Inventory facility

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Agnew

High0Moderate29Low5

Highest-Severity Sites

11N 6E 6AB 1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
11N 6E 6AB 1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
11N 6e29ba 1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
11N 6e29ba 1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
11N 6e31ac 1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Agnew, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 18 sites within ~10 miles of Agnew. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Agnew

Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Agnew average

Your land is one point inside Agnew

Everything above resolves to Agnew as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 120 acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.

Your Lot vs the Agnew Average

Agnew Average

  • USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Agnew
  • One soil character for all of Agnew
  • Frost dates read at Agnew's scale: Apr 9 to Oct 20

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Agnew's 5b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Agnew

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Agnew, Nebraska — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Agnew averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Agnew averages 194Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Agnew — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Agnew average

How we know this about Agnew

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Agnew’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Agnew

When does frost risk typically end in Agnew?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Agnew typically lands around Apr 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Apr 30.

When is the first frost in Agnew?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Agnew typically arrives around Oct 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 6, so the watching starts about Sep 20 — about 194 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Agnew?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Agnew sees about 194 frost-free days — roughly Apr 9 through Oct 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 30 to Oct 6, about 159 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Agnew?

The federal record around Agnew is light — 34 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (18), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.2 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Agnew?

From about Sep 20 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Oct 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Oct 20. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Agnew's scale — its 5b band and its 194-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Agnew's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Agnew’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Agnew's own scale — its own ~194-day season between 28°F freezes, the 120 acres it covers and 34 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Agnew's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Agnew's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 9 and Oct 20 and the ~194-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 34 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Agnew, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Agnew's boundary and the 120 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~194-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Agnew's own centroid, the Western Corn Belt PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Agnew's 120 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Lancaster County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Lancaster County
  • The growing challenges every Nebraska grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Nebraska
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Lancaster County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Agnew's 120 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Agnew you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 120 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.2 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Agnew-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address